I have been doing some limited research on flying for gar. The waters i haunt here in kentucky are full of gar. Does anyone have any tips on leaders or preferred methods? I have landed several while fishing for smallies, always with a dry fly such as a damsel or foam hopper? Could a musky or walleye leader set up serve the same functions for these warm water giants? Ant tips or thoughts welcome!!!

We have a fairly plentiful gar population here in Georgia, as well; the fish rise every so often, presumably to get some air, and many is the time that I've frantically tried to get a popper in front of one's face, but have not gotten any takers on that front. Spinning tackle is another matter, however, and a heavy monofilament leader was always my first line of defense, as steel leader seemed to turn the fish off. Typically I used a 20-lb. test leader with 8-lb. spooled. Granted, these were 36" and under spotted gar, so if you're going for some larger monsters you might think about using 30-lb. mono or greater. Good luck, and be sure to post some pics if you land one of these prehistoric fish!

Fred - cool! I hope you get one and can post some pics. I think you might have a hard time getting advice on this one because I dobt many people know how big they are, if they are toothy, etc. Maybe if you can describe the general behavior of the fish. Deep or shallow dwellers? What do they eat, etc?

If memory serves me correctly, there's one thing I can remember about gar....they are very toothy. In fact, they're so toothy that some people fish for them with rope flies.

Rope flies don't have hooks. Instead, they are just strands of mesh in flashy colors that snare the teeth of the gar when they strike and only get tangled even more during the fight. I suppose it's better to snip off a bit of a rope fly to free a gar than to try to unhook one from all of those teeth. I also think that rope flies are used a lot because the jaws of a gar are just so bony, maybe too tough for a hook to penetrate sufficiently.

I remember a story that my granddad told me. He was fishing once, and caught a bunch of crappies. He put them on a stringer and let them hang over the side of the boat, because he didn't have a livewell. At the end of the day, he pulled his stringer up, and there were only fishheads attached. The gar had snuck up and ate the fish off the stringer.

I would try one of those big sunfish or perch patterns used for musky or pike.

JDJones; the pictures on the site you reference brought back memories.
When being taught to fish by my grandfather, 30+ years ago, I remember seeing gar on the banks of the Connecticut river. Always good to remember happy times with someone who hasn't been around for a long time.

Glad you liked the pics on roughfish.com If a picture is worth a thousand words, just try to describe the sensatiion you get when you come in ccontact with something such as your grandfather's shaving mug, his pipe or his fishing vest. The nose will tranport you back in time in a way that the eye cannot.

I've caught alot of gars in my day fishing for catfish out on the Ohio River and a few fishing in the local creeks. Nothing will send a streak of fear up you quite like a gar can that's for sure. Never caught one on a fly, sounds like fun!!!!!

i thought about that, but would prefer to keep the fly floating...may have try seriously foaming a fly's underbody i suppose. when we go out spinning for gar, we usually fish a live 6-8 inch chub about 4 inches deep with a plain cork float...highly effective!!! This may call for an original design...maybe a fly version of a broken back minnow? anyone wanna try and let me know how the desing turns out?

like I said, some flash fiber bodied profile in colors that match the real thing on a polafibre baitfish design. Hook: J-bend type (Varivas 994S 1/0 - 3/00); C-bend (circle hook) hi-tie. Oops - none of that will float - so grab some craft foam sheet at the local WallyWorld and either wrap/glue it to the shank or wrap/wrap it on with a bobbin and tie to that. Maybe a tube fly on a swizzle stick, a hairhead popper, so forth..